St. Giovanni in Laterano

Ciao everyone, I know I didn't update yesterday, but I have midterms all this week and I'm feeling a little sluggish, so I decided to take it easier and just study, although I wanted to blog about Monday, but today's the day for that I suppose. Hopefully pictures will go a bit quicker today, one can always hope.

Sunday was where I left off last time I guess: we went to Lago di Bracciano, and it was really a pretty sweet little town, very much what I expected in some ways and had dreamed about in terms of little Italian towns, which is fun. I took a little video, so if you want, give it a whirl. Keep an eye on the olive groves down next to the lake and the skyline of the town; I found those to be especially nice.


We made it back here mid-eveningish and I made some pasta, studied, read, and turned in early since we had a site visit Monday morning that we needed to get up for, and by we, I mean my Medieval Roman Art and Architecture course, which Bert is also a member of. We went to San Giovanni in Laterano, or St. John Lateran, which was the first Christian Church here in Roma, established by Constantine, who is widely considered to be the first Christian Roman Emperor. It was built on the outskirts of the city on purpose, just inside the walls, as it wasn't designed to be in the heart of the city. That expansion didn't come until a few centuries later. As some of you know, Constantine never succeeded in making Rome a Christian city, and about 10 years after the Edict of Milan which allowed for the free practice of Christianity, he up and moved to Constantinople, or modern Istanbul, to create a new Christian capital.

Anyway, we took the metro over and it's got a facade from the 17th century, but the actual Basilica is from the 4th century. Old old old. It's the last major basilica I had yet to see, so I've now been to the big ones. Only took two months, but they're not in the middle of everything so it takes some time.

We started out by going inside, through the center of the picture to the right. But before we did, we kept seeing literally hundreds of Indian people coming by bus and flocking into the church, and we couldn't really figure out why. Then when we went inside, there were over a thousand Indian women and men in traditional garb and I was scratching my head as to why they were there. Apparently, the Pope sainted an Indian woman and this is a huge development as she is among the first if not the first sainted person from India, so they all came to mass and to celebrate that morning. It's so ritualistic, these masses, it's mesmerizing to see everyone chanting and speaking all at once, watching the priests and bishop speak. Really really cool, I was glad we got to be treated to that as well as the sites, which were worthy of being called a major basilica.

The modern day head of Catholicism is the Vatican, which is pretty common knowledge, but in Medieval times, it was not the case. St. Peter's is now, St. John Lateran was then. It's not a funerary church like St. Paul's or St. Peter's, as it's intention is to be to Christ, who ascended to the heavens and left no remains behind. It's enormous, only smaller than St. Peter's and that's by a nose. Just huge. We spilled out into the garden enclave and if you saw my pictures from St. Paul's, it's really similar: Cosmetesque, tranquil, and green, filled with artifacts that show that this indeed used to be the center of all of Christianity in Roma and thereby the world as a whole. Pretty cool stuff.

We went back out and walked just a block across the street to the Sancta Scala and Sancta Sanctorum. Now, the Sancta Scala are the marble steps Christ ascended (yes, supposedly the very ones) on his way to meet Pontius Pilate. They were transported here to Roma and set up on the way up to the Pope's private chapel of old, the Sancta Sactorum, or the Holy Sanctuary. The steps may only be climbed on one's knees, as to show humility to Christ, as man is not worthy to walk the same steps as God. Pretty amazing stuff to see people on their knees, slowly ascending the stairs, taking about 2 minutes a stair, praying on each stair.

We got to go into the Sancta Sanctorum after that. Now, this would not have been possible if not for John Paul II, who is a rock star here in Roma and universally revered, much more so than I think Benedict XVI is here. Anyway, he opened it up to the people in the 90's, but you still have to arrange it in advance, and it's kept behind these HUGE, square-foot sized locks. It's really something to see.

We got in, and I'll let the pictures do some of the talking, and the video, and my writing will cover the rest.

It's small. Very tiny. A little chapel, if you will. The Pope was the only one really allowed in until a few years back, so imagine the exclusivity of being able to enter. The walls are frescoed beautifully, and the apse is very tiny, covered with a mosaic of Christ being raised by angels, in the picture above. The ovevrhead ceiling has the four signs of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are represented by different animals, shown above. Also shown are the scenes of the Martyrs like Peter and Paul, Agnes, Lawrence, etc. Pretty powerful stuff. Take note of the floor in there as well, it's all designed in a continuous, snake-like pattern of circles and represent Christ and God's never-ending, universal, eternal power.


Also, see the jeweled portrait thing?

Yeah, it's called the Acheropita, or literally meaning "not by human hand" and is said to have been created by a miracle, and portrays Jesus Christ. Intense. It's since been painted (don't ask, it bothers me too much to think they used to just paint these things supposedly divine) and enshrined in its shiny case.

The writing on the walls says in Latin "there is no holier place in all the world."

And when you read something like that, it makes you feel a little small.

It was really, really awesome, and it's one of the more memorable things I've seen since I got here. It's something to think about for a while: people who were as devout as can be never got to see this, and yet here I am, just studying this for a few months and I get to go into there? I mean, this was the holiest place on earth according to Catholic doctrine. I mean, wow. It housed a piece of the true cross of Jesus, his foreskin and umbilicus (now lost) and many other priceless relics. Really, really something.

From there we went back into the Lateran and out to go back to classes and life. But a really cool visit none the less. I studied a lot yesterday and really did nothing of important note, and today I had a midterm for the class I have all these visits for, which went really well I think. I've gotta leave for class here soon, but hopefully I'll have many things to report back on again soon.

Until next time,

Ciao.